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It Looks Like Google's Buying Sun After All

blogcritics.org — All signs now point to a Sun buyout.

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  • bradspry, on 10/12/2007, -15/+10F Sun's hardware! Google is buying Sun to open source Java!
    • psylence, on 10/12/2007, -4/+9That would be _huge_.

      Because of that very reason, it will never happen. :(
    • fredinator, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3IMHO Google wouldn't Open Java's source code as they don't often open any software they make. They may open it if they have no use for it though
    • drawkbox, on 10/12/2007, -4/+3This comfirms my suspicion that Google is a special project of MS and they will eventually buy them up or kill off the MS brand in favor of Google. ;> I think it has to do with servers, java, taking more of a anti-ms role (this propels them both), and office applications. Google is on a spending spree!
    • shokk, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1The link is that Sun is making tons of new Opteron based systems and Google has said that they plan on buying lots of Opteron hardware. They are at least in bed together with some huge deal.
    • Chozabu, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Man, i wish java was open source...
      but why do you think google would do it if they bought java?
      Well, with a bit of luck GCJ really will own(suns java) soon anyways!
    • crbaker, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2What a load of rubbish. Why will java be improved by changing its licencing model. I can get source code, I can extend source code. Only IBM want Java open sourced for their own political objectives.
    • vallan, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Java IS open source. It has been for awhile now. What it is not is free (as in freedom).
  • Seumas, on 10/12/2007, -4/+92I'm a long time Sun guy. What concerns me most about this is, will we be getting those cool google cafes and min-convenience stores filled with water, soda, candy and cereal in all the campuses? Or will that be reserved for the upper-class "google" employees? :D


    Anyway, this is lame. The supporting evidence here is:

    = Guy offers his own reasons on his blog for why he thinks Google would buy Sun.
    = New York Times person cites guy's reasons from his blog on NYT guy's blog.
    = Original guy cites NYT guy's citing of himself on NYT guy's blog on his own blog and considers it justification.
    • Xiol, on 10/12/2007, -4/+43"Original guy cites NYT guy's citing of himself on NYT guy's blog on his own blog and considers it justification."

      My head just exploded.
    • brandonhines, on 10/12/2007, -8/+8Couldn't agree more.
    • marktwen, on 10/12/2007, -9/+27Sounds like proof positive that Saddam Hussein has "weapons of mass destruction" and is minutes away from using them against us or "our friends"--let's go to war!
    • Seumas, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2This guy is full of it, but one thing to keep in mind is that Sun has gobbled up companies, too. From storage companies to secure remote desktop companies and many in between.

      So google could be interested in a big soup of benefits they could get from Sun. For example, what would help your "we plan to be every computer user's main storage system and everything on their computers would just be a cached copy of their real data hosted on Google storage" than owning a company with expertise in thin-client/remote-client machines and even more -- owning a storage company itself? (StorageTek acquisition).

      I don't know anything and find all of this extremely unlikely, but I just wanted to point out that there is more than "some servers, java and solaris" involved in Sun. There's web servers, messaging servers, LDAP servers, Solaris, storage solutions, huge servers... you could go on and on.

      I think we'll make it to the moon again before anything like this ever happens.
    • Jadix, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Arg. Didn't mean to respond to this one, now I cant delete it. *new digg feature needed!* Allow deletion of comments while under the time limit for editing.
  • sishgupta, on 10/12/2007, -6/+8Its easy/cheap to obtain new servers when you don't have to buy em.

    Theres a good example of vertical integration for ya...
    • v0id, on 10/12/2007, -13/+1a smart biz plan IMO.
    • Seumas, on 10/12/2007, -2/+9But Google themselves state that they employ very cheap off the shelf-ish commodity systems as part of their proprietary many-failure-tolerant cluster system? Why would they care about serious computing power on an individual server?
  • Linuxrocks, on 10/12/2007, -9/+7Google is turning into a power hungry monster. Wont be long before googles just like Microsoft...
    • redDC143C, on 10/12/2007, -4/+7You forget, one of Google's mission statements is "To do no evil".

      Google hasn't yet crossed that barrier, IMO.. the whole censorship in China thing had a lot of people upset, but I look at it from a different perspective - No Google in China = a censored China with bad search results, Google in China = a censored China with good search results. Google is still helping the people of China find their information; it is the government of China that should be blamed for censorship, and not a company trying to work inside of said government.

      Now, the difference between Microsoft and Google is simply this: Google is still very much in favor of giving the user options, letting them decide what they'd like to use. Microsoft, has stated they want every computer in the world to run on Windows. I believe this was one of their mission statements.

      You should just realize that Big != Evil :)
    • jujuman, on 10/12/2007, -6/+3Big=Evil

      Perhaps Google should buy Alaska and move there.
  • pfunked, on 10/12/2007, -6/+7Wonder if Google has any specific interest in StarOffice.
  • RobotCitizen, on 10/12/2007, -5/+29Google's buying the Sun?!
  • antihexe, on 10/12/2007, -12/+6bad blog!
  • sunmicroman, on 10/12/2007, -11/+3Time to start buying up stock in Sun. I think a big money making opportunity is on the horizon....
  • hinten, on 10/12/2007, -7/+17No digg, this doesn't even make sense. It's right up there with "Google is buying KrispyKreme".
    • drawkbox, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Google is buying Dunkin Donuts from Carlyle, they are also buying the federal reserve.
  • adml_shake, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7While this wouldn't surprise me i'm still not seeing any real evidence of this...
  • twylight, on 10/12/2007, -7/+17blogger needs to die in a fire
  • ipodman715, on 10/12/2007, -11/+3O_O interesting..
  • fletchowns, on 10/12/2007, -9/+2So they're going to be the new apple, but with a web based OS?
  • kolja, on 10/12/2007, -3/+7this blogger has been sniffing the glue too much. He has no sources and even less credibility. Last time he claimed that an "annonymous source" told him about information that is published in SEC reports... no digg
  • ajiva, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3This might be possible, if you look up Sun's market cap they are about 16B, while Google has about 8B in cash. They could do it with a combination cash/stock purchase. Is this a good idea? Dunno, but I just left my job of 7 years at Sun for another job!
  • RaistlinMajere, on 10/12/2007, -5/+11Reported as inaccurate.

    We really need to be using that feature more often, people!!
  • bonlebon, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2Sun would be a deal to buy, what are they waiting for.
    • RobGamble, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Google should buy SCO, them FIRE all of them.
  • kerskine, on 10/12/2007, -3/+14No digg - this guy is so full of crap it's turning my screen brown (oh wait, I'm still using the default Ubuntu theme). I wish Firefox had anti-bookmarks. I forgot that I read this guy's blog last week and need a way to automatically tell me - "Nothing Here".
    • cogent_bob, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1You owe me a new keyboard. Twice. Once for Ubuntu and once for the anti-bookmark.
  • timmarhy, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7just say no to retards trying to get their blogs more traffic by making rediculous claims.

    there is no proof of google buying sun, sun's core business has nothing to do with googles, which is advertising.
    besides which sun is a sinking ship, the only people who would buy it will do it at bargin prices at the bankruptcy sale.

    in summary, don't digg this, this guys and idiot
  • zouhair, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Hmm Google may maybe reconsider getting back to what makes it : SEARCHING

    a lot of thing now in Google are still Beta :(
  • saska, on 10/12/2007, -6/+1You've been punk'd.
  • Chasuk, on 10/12/2007, -2/+8You can't have a web-based OS. An OS is the fundamental program that manages, and allows one to run, all of the applications on a computer. Google might produce a web-based application (running under Windows, Linux, and MacOS) which offers similar functionality, but that wouls not make it an OS. The OS is the program which is initially loaded into the computer (by a boot program).
    • brutalentropy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0What about a boot loader that loads just a TCP/IP stack, the data is then pulled from the network (either WAN or LAN)

      It's perfectly feasible... maybe not a good IDEA, but it could be done.
    • kokojie, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1It's certainly possible, it's called a dumb terminal. Your computer will have no CPU/RAM/HD/Graphic Card, the only thing you have is keyboard/mouse/printer/monitor, everything will be done on the server, including the OS. Your computer is only used to connect to the network.
  • pwinn, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6This is all wild speculation and most likely nonsense. Blah.
  • mbiesz, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6Uh... is there any direct, non-speculative evidence for this?
  • mpcard, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8Google is going to get into health-care and financial services? I don't believe it.

    We need a new word in the vein of astroturfing to describe someone who tries to promote his blog by making outlandish claims or "shocking" revelations of "inside" info.

    LAME
  • desideal, on 10/12/2007, -6/+0psst psst..
  • amalik49, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Why would a company that prides itself on using commodity, duct-taped hardware pay 2x the cash it has on hand in order to buy a widely lambasted hardware company? Are going to issue stock for Sun? If they do, watch it drop like a lead ***** balloon.

    It's one thing to try and coyly take on eBay/MSFT/Yahoo/everyone else when you're a Wall Street darling and have everyone terrified of your brainpower. But Google's not stupid and is not going to make some blockbuster acquisition that signals "We don't know who we are anymore." Not their core business. Not their roadmap. No digg.

    And this blogger is a self-congratulatory ass-clown. Don't post his ***** anymore. Wastes everyone's time. Esp. when he's reiterating theories that he expounded in the first place.
  • zbeast, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5As much as I like UNIX as much as I like java.
    There is no logical reason for Google to buy sun.
    Unless they want there buildings. Sun has some very nice buildings.
    But when you buy a company you have to have a plan for that company.
    I don't see any plan in the Idea of buying Sun. It provides them no competitive advantage, it would tie up a lot of cash, Give them integration pains from hell. Make Google into bad guys because as you know when you buy a company, a big company's there are lots of layoffs coming.
    Best guess for this story. They guy who wrote it is trying to do a Sunw stock pump and dump.
    • paulfarag, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0I agree with the possibility of it being a stock ploy. Notice the carefully emphasized disclaimers not to make stock decisions based on the post to protect him when the rumors prove false and unfounded?

      As for Google being interested in Star/OpenOffice, their recent acquisition of Writely.com indicates their strategy heading in a different direction.
  • Ioman, on 10/12/2007, -9/+3SPAM
  • sirplus, on 10/12/2007, -2/+8little credibility to this. yawn.
  • zbeast, on 10/12/2007, -5/+2As much as I like UNIX as much as I like java. There is no logical reason for Google to buy sun.
    Unless they want there buildings. Sun has some very nice buildings.
    But when you buy a company you have to have a plan for that company.
    I don't see any plan in the Idea of buying Sun. It provides them no competitive advantage would tie up a lot of cash, Give them integration pains from hell, make Google into bad guys. Because as you know when you buy a company, a big company's there are lots of layoffs coming.
    Best guess for this story. They guy who wrote it is trying to do a Sunw stock pump and dump.
  • SenyorDrew, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2oh for crying out loud. I need to start a blog and make random headlines too.
  • cube5, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1I wonder if and/or how google will googlify openoffice, they're probably thinking oh another great place to stick their toolbar. bleh i hope this doesn't happen. I'm just getting comftorable with OOo i really don't want any more toolbars or ads.
  • punkguitarist, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1Tell me when a big company 'isn't' buying a little one.
  • nerdler, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2This guy has no clue what he's talking about.

    One of his sources states: "Google is going into Financial Services and Healthcare!"

    Um... yeah.
  • mrgadget, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Note to original response. Sun's Java Enterprise Suite is already open source as of last year. Unfortunately most people aren't aware of it. You can download their complete software suite, as well as Solaris free of charge. Of course if you want support, you'll have to pay for maintenance.

    As far as the buy out, I still don't get the fit, and Sun's stock price could also be up because their overall business has been improving in recent months. But who knows.... Google is known for shaking things up.
  • JinkyHinge, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pre-Boot_Execution_Environment

    "You can't have a web-based OS."

    While this may be correct on the point that other protocols would be involved then just http and udp, the overall suggestion is incorrect. I don't know if it is the best idea, but it's possible to do.
  • Atomic1fire, on 10/12/2007, -4/+1if google buys sun then they own java right?
  • Webwonk, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2This is a wild speculation. No digg.
  • CEpeep, on 10/12/2007, -6/+3"This article originally appeared on Iowa Voice, the U.S.'s largest Republican blog where I am a Guest Author"

    'nuff said. No digg.
  • chicksdigme, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1I get the feeling that Google really doesnt give a ***** about Java. Google also doesnt care for Sun's middleware biz, which is horrible. Google is not a hardware company, so it doesnt really care for Sun's hardware biz either.

    Sun's Solaris and its Star Office maybe of interest to Google. But buying Sun would mean too many baggages to Google; therefore, Google's better off just using the Linux/BSD kernel (like Apple has) and buying Corel's office suite.

    Hence, no digg. This article is total non-sense.
  • ollywompus, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8God could this guy have stroked himself anymore in this writeup?

    "where I am a Guest Author, and started all the speculation."

    "The New York Times' Dealbook blog is the most authoritative source of financial information on Wall Street, and the very fact that my comments — name attributed — have appeared there adds a phenomenal sign of crediility."

    "A corporate finance executive close to the action who wishes to remain anonymous e-mailed me shortly afterwards with the revelation that the takeover will probably involve 35 shares of Sun for 1 of Google's and that my analysis was "spot on"."

    This guy is definitely taking the cake for Moron of the Year.

    -olly
    • mousky, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1I agree. A truly credible reporter would not have to mention that he started the speculation and that the NYT cited his comments. The blogosphere and the mainstream media are not that different.
  • thelastknowngod, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1IMO this would be a good thing for sun (or at least sun's products), google, and the general public. Java would be open sourced very quickly and (hopefully) get it to not be such a hog. all it would take to get me happy is for a less hungry azureus.
  • anamanaman, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Does google have 16 billion dollars on hand? Can it afford to blow it on Sun Microsystems? Would Sun want to sell?

    I read the article. Pretty whacked out analysis if you ask me. I don't think this deal has a chance in hell of ever happening
    • afrokhan, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Why do they need $16 billion on hand? Google's market capitalization is right around $100 billion. Couldn't they offer a mix of cash / shares? I don't think the analysis provided in the article is all that far fetched. Given Google's continuous need for additional hardware, why not pick-up a hardware company, that also just so happens to do a bunch of other stuff potentially relevant to Google's business (e.g. Java)? But really, what do I know? ;)
    • amalik49, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Google's not going to dilute it's still lofty shares by issuing more to buy a PoS like Sun.

      And Google has ~$8 billion on hand. But any of it that it spends on a hardware company will get it punished harshly by its investors. They bought Google to play the internet/ advertising market. Yet another reason this won't happen any time soon (if ever). Google's got enough on its plate; they don't need to worry about organizational integration of a completely separate business.
  • Shugii, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Yea, what's the point of creating anything when you can just buy them out. =) Probably won't put a dent in their budget either.
  • C0D3R, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Well, at least this is not quite so preposterous as the "Dell buys Alienware" *cough* confirmation that made the front page with 2500+ diggs.

    Seriously, you digg girls gossip more than my Aunt Bernice.
    • panique, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2It's every bit as preposterous.

      It's also a clear indication that the trolls are winning their battle to malign the credibility of digg.
  • nuxx, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2bah! this won't happen...Google and Solaris go together like GWB and MENSA!
    • Shugii, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Yea, i reckon it won't happen, just like eBay and Skype. =)
  • hashkaran, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2sorry dude. go sell this to someone who can believe it.
  • OBKenobi, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2In a move to counter the deal, MS will buy the Moon.
  • kencochrane, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1This doesn't make any sense, why would Google spend all of the money to buy SUN? Sun doesn't have anything that Google really needs. Sun's big products are Servers and an OS. Google uses Linux, and cheap hardware. Buying Sun would just end of hurting them in the long run. The only thing that Sun has that might be of use, is all of the Patents and IP info.

    I was talking with my friend about this possiblilty the other day and he brought up one good point that I didn't think about. If Google bought sun, and sun made a cheap terminal server, that you just plugged into a broadband connection, then that terminal could use all of googles services. GMail,Blogger, GDrive, Writey, etc. It is only a matter of time before google has a complete web based office solution. If they have this there will no longer be a need for your grandmother to own a regular computer again.
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